A hospital patient often has the need for multiple intravenous (IV) infusions from multiple supplies of fluids, such as drugs. This requires the use of multiple infusion pumps that are connected to the patient and to fluid containers via fluid lines. There exist modular infusion systems in which pump and monitoring modules can be selectively attached, both physically and electrically, to a central programming unit or to one another via one or more connectors. The central programming unit controls the operation of pump modules attached to it, and receives and displays information regarding the pump modules.
The connectors that are used to attach the modules to the central programming unit are typically formed of one or more materials that have good electrical conductivity. For example, the connectors may be formed of a base metal of high conductivity (such as copper) that is coated with a metal that provides protection from oxidation (i.e. such as gold).
The connectors include contact elements that are exposed to the environment. The environmental exposure makes the contact elements susceptible to damage or wear from environmental elements such as cleaners, contaminants, chemicals, fluids, and particulates. The connector may also become physically damaged due to normal, mechanical attachment and detachment of the modules. Moreover, as the connectors wear, the metal coating may remove over time resulting in undesirable exposure of the base metal to the environment.
Such damage and wear to the connectors may lead to a loss of electrical connectivity or unintended connectivity between connectors. This may have negative implications for the patient. There is therefore a need for systems and methods for verifying the reliability of the connector in a modular infusion system.
Another common practice is to use circuit breakers on lines to protect against short circuits. While this practice can protect against high current short circuits, it can't protect against current shorts that are higher impedance since the circuit protection must be set at a current that is higher than the maximum possible current over all operating conditions. It is also common practice to provide redundant contacts, however a system with redundant contacts alone would not be able to detect if the redundant contacts have been compromised. After a period of time, the last redundant contact might fail leading to negative implications for the patient. Creating a system that can be switched and tested offline may help to detect failed contacts, but would require that the circuit be disrupted in order to test which may only be feasible upon power up. There is therefore a need for systems and methods for verifying the integrity of connector contacts without disrupting the use of the circuit.